Saturday, October 13, 2012

Questions for Non U.S. Readers?

So I am watching my River Cottage over oatmeal and have some questions. These are mostly about the UK (being on my mind watching the show) but I'm curious about other countries too. I am wondering if the US is homesteader and hunter friendly in comparison to other countries based on these questions that come up watching the show. I'm not sure if everything is so by-the-book because of the TV show or laws?

1. Is it illegal in the UK to slaughter animals at home?
2. Is it illegal to hunt without a guide or game keeper?
3. IS there public land for the general public to hunt?
4. Does your town, village, or country offer hunter safety and licenses?
5. Is it hard to get a hunting rifle?
6. If you have a rifle, can you use it to dispatch your own livestock?
7. How much is a quid compared to a pound? Is that the same thing?
8. What does "knackered" mean? Tired? Crappy?
9. Are public gardens and allotments common?
10. Can you keep chickens?
11. Is homegrown food common?
12. Why does Britain use metric units in cooking?

47 Comments:

Hi Jenna. I have spent a lot of time in the UK so I can answer some of your questions. Yes-a quid is the same as a pound. And "knackered" means utterly exhausted.

As for guns in the UK-that is a whole different conversation. My understanding is that guns are usually not owned by the population and police often do not carry guns. If guns are needed by the police, they have a "gun division", if you will, that is called in.Rifles are many times owned by folks in the country and there are very strict regulations for the guns. I could be mistaken, but I think at all times the gun is not in use, it must be stored in a locked cabinet.

Due to the sheer number of persons in the UK and the much smaller sizes of the homes and acreages (as compared to the US) public gardens and allotments are common-much like they are in some of our US cities.

Just got back from the UK yesterday so I can answer some of your questions, though not all.Yes, a quid and pound are the same thing. Kind of like saying buck or dollar.Yes, knackered means tired. Not sure if this is a generalization but most of the people I came across that were from the suburbs or country grow their own food. In many of the front yards, even if they are small and only used as for parking there were fruit trees planted there. the neighbors did the same thing so I expect that helped with cross pollination. It looks to me as if there are many public gardens but not more so than we have in suburbia in the US.

Don't quote me as gospel, but as far as I know there is no public land for hunting - most hunts occur on private estates.

You have to have a license to own a gun in the UK, but I think you can shoot so long as you are part of a "guided" group.

As far as home butchering is concerned, I believe that The animal must be killed humanely, in accordance with The Welfare of Animals (Slaughter and Killing) Regulations 1995 and that they must be stunned before slaughter. But things might have changed because of all the problems we have had with animal disease such as Blue Tongue. Worth looking at the defra (Dept of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs website http://www.defra.gov.uk/food-farm/)

A quid is a pound! (Or paaaand if you're in London!)

Knackered means tired and exhausted. It's a lighthearted expression. Although a knackered animal usually means it is not long for this world - on it's way to the knackers yard - where old horses were turned into glue!

Public gardens and allotments are very common. Our Victorian forebears realised that it the greening of cities and towns and public access to peace and beauty would be beneficial. And long may it last!!! London's parks are a life saver!

Homegrown food is increasingly common - even if you only have a windowbox, but also a legacy of WW2 and the Dig for Victory campaign.

Yes you can keep chickens, although some neighbours will complain if you are in a built up area. . . remember our houses and gardens tend to be much smaller. A friend of mine rescues battery farm chickens at the end of their laying life.

We do use metric measurements (although some cooks still include the imperial measurements in recipes). I suspect it is something to do with UK entering the Common Market in Europe in 1973 as well as Decimalisation of our currency. It does make life a lot easier!

Hope this helps, but feel free to email me any more questions. I love trying to find the answers!!!

1. Yes it is illegal to slaughter animals at home. When my horse had to be put down we organised the local fox hunting hunt to come and humanely put down the horse and take him away.

2. "Hunting" means to ride with the hounds to exterminate foxes. Otherwise the term "shooting" is used for the organised "shoot" of game birds on grouse moors etc. Many people pay huge amounts of money to the estates for the privilege of shooting game birds which are organised by "gamekeepers".

3. There is no public land for for hunting or shooting. "Hunting" takes place over farmer's lands or over the large estates, for example The Beaufort Hunt in Gloucestershire.

4. There are no areas, towns etc offering safety. Anyone with a gun (usually farmers) have to apply for a gun licence with the police.

5. It has become very hard to obtain rifles. The general public do not usually keep guns, except farmers. The police are not armed as a general rule. If a member of the general public is interested in using a gun they can belong to a local club where they shoot at targets under strict supervision and the guns are owned by the club.

6. If you wish to put down your livestock you take the animal to an abattoir. Household pets are put down by a vet.

7. A quid is a slang term for a pound sterling.

8. knackered just means tired.

9. Public gardens are called parks and most towns and villages have them. We live in a very small village but we still have a park which is a huge green field. Sports like football and cricket are played there and there are swings etc for children. Allotments are very common and much in demand.

10. Yes we can keep chickens and small animals like hamsters and rabbits etc.

11.Homegrown food is very popular. We ourselves have always maintained a kitchen garden.

Personal use only but you can serve it to guests that come to your home but you can't sell or even give it away for any reason off the property, if you want a farm gate sale, you need to have it done in a provincal inspected butcher (but then it can only be sold in the province you live in) if you want to be able to to sell outside your own province it would need to go to the federal inspected butcher. You can not process something and sell it on without permits, example, you might get the pig butchered at the provincal, but you can't make bacon and then sell the bacon, you can only sell the side pork.

2. Is it illegal to hunt without a guide or game keeper?

No, but we have lots and lots of guides and hunting camps available if you want to go that route and lots of folks do, I have worked in both bird hunting camps (fall) and in moutain outfitters for bigger game.

3. IS there public land for the general public to hunt?

Yes, depending on where you live in Canada, you will need your hunting lisence and tags, having said that in some places its very hard to get a tag for say a moose, (ontario) but in Newf you can take up to three a year, depending on the population, they will either offer a flat cost tag or they will offer a draw, example, where my dad lives in alberta, he could get up to three deer by just asking for his tags, but he would have to do a draw for moose or elk. You can hunt on crown land, you need to check to find the rules and regs per province and territory. Having said that, many folks also hunt on private land as well.

4-Difficult to get a hunting rifle?

Yes, you have to take the safety course, take the test, and get your lisence and keep it up to date, its typically a three to six month wait time and even if you do all the above you can still be refused the right to own a rifle, once you have that paperwork in place, then No, its easy enough at that point to go buy one, but transportation laws are very controlling compared to the states etc.

6. If you have a rifle, can you use it to dispatch your own livestock?

yes, if you are legally owning a rifle, there are written guidelines for the legal dispatch of your livestock

9. Are public gardens and allotments common?

Yes, almost every single city or town at this point offers some form of garden or allotment, however very few peaple are aware how to get one or make one, however all across canada, if you know how to get a small group of peaple together and to read the regs right, the laws are still on the books from the WW2 and you can get land, its just that few bother with it.

10. Can you keep chickens?

In most places yes, while in the past five to ten years, a few cities have changed the laws to prevent chicken ownership, lots of cities and towns have lifted them, but most towns/villages have laws on the books that allow one to three chickens per home, again dating back to the old days, example at my mom's town, she is allowed 3 chickens, a trio of breeding rabbits and a milk goat if she wanted them, also the town is still required (and does have) a hitching post for your horses in town :)

11. Is homegrown food common?

Depends where you live, if you are in a city, not so much, if you live in towns, or small towns or in the country, then the answer is yes, I have lived and moved from the west, the north and the east and the amount of peaple that still raise and grow alot of their own food, the difference is that many of those folks in canada, don't blog about it, they just do.

12. Why does Britain use metric units in cookingCanada if offically metric but almost all of us are both, we still buy and use pint jars or quart jars, when I can I do everything the old fashion way in regard to numbers, and I am of a generation that is be metric trained by school but the old way by parents and grandparents and the nieces are the same, they understand both.

About the home grown food...there are MANY urban farmers now, who have food gardens of varying sizes in the own back yards. Also cities are moving towards using vacant lots as community gardens. In BC, this happens alot. Also on the prairies, the majority of people grown food. Some municipalities also allow a small flock of backyard chickens as well. Things are changing as we move towards being more "green". BC is quite green-we're the tree hugging granola province.

I do not think so. I have not lived there for close to a decade but my family used to and still slaughter pigs sheeps and goats, not to count the rabbits, chicken and other kinds of fowls

2. Is it illegal to hunt without a guide or game keeper?

No as long as you have your hunting license, the right hunting stamp, hunting tag for large animal and the authorization of the land owner.

3. IS there public land for the general public to hunt?

Yes there is but they are generally leased by a group of people and you must be part of this group to hunt on it.

4. Does your town, village, or country offer hunter safety and licenses?

nothing is offered you have to pay for it and this is run by the state as far as I remember, I could be wrong.

5. Is it hard to get a hunting rifle?

You need to have a license ( background check) in order to be able to buy a riffle or other weapons as a matter of fact. You must store it and transport it in a way that it could not be use right away ( disassemble the percussion mechanism)

6. If you have a rifle, can you use it to dispatch your own livestock?

Well it is hard to dispatch a sheep with only a knife ( but this is done). In the meantime pigs used to be bleed only to keep the blood to do blood sausage (man I am missing my " boudin noir ")

7. How much is a quid compared to a pound? Is that the same thing?

I do not know about the quid ( well I did knew the answer) but in France the euro is in use, but people will still refer to the old francs( ancien francs) from back in the 60's. 1 new francs = 100 old francs. 1 euro = 6.5ish new francs ...... I let you enjoy and appreciate the math skills you sometimes needs

8. What does "knackered" mean? Tired? Crappy?

n/a

9. Are public gardens and allotments common?

yes and family garden are more usual and also much larger in size, you can really grow a year worth of veggie for a family of four on a French family garden plot.

10. Can you keep chickens?

Depends on where you live, not a problem in the country, I used to be woke up by my grand father rooster a 1/4 miles away down the narrow valley.

11. Is homegrown food common?

In the country yes, my grand father had two garden, each the size of an acre. I spent countless hours harvesting beans potatoes carrots onion .... but also strawberries, currants, and others small fruit,those were part of the garden and processed in Jams .... I still can't believe my grand mother used to put up all those jams and can all those veggies. and I cant believe we could harvest a gallon or two each (6 grand kids) of strawberries every other day for two or three weeks in a row

12. Why does Britain use metric units in cooking?

Why are the American the only one to use what I call the finger toes elbow arm system ? no sense to me much less precise, but I put up with it after all I decided to live in my other country.

As a general rule of thumb, it seems to me that the US are much more homesteading friendly than France. I did grew up in the country with farm fields all other the place (after all the house next door was a a pasture) but I never found in France what I can find here. I can raise all my meat and get it processed ( good luck to find a calf and to be able to get it slaughtered in France ), hunting is easier and more big games (my uncles rave to come here to shoot a deer,so they can say that they have shoot one in their life). It is easier nowadays to buy a large property in the US than in France, finding a 5 acres place will require some big bucks, those can be had for "dirt cheap" in some US area ( and yes still be usable to farm on ).

Britain as much of the world uses metric units in most things. It's easier to do math - double or halve a recipe 2x250 grams is 500 but 2x 3 tablespoons is how many cups?, figure out area 10 x 10 meters is 100 square meters, but 40 feet by 30 feet is how many acres? 20 kgs of tomatoes @$40 is $2/kg but what does a bushel of tomatoes cost per pound?

From wikipedia:"The United States is the only industrialised country that does not use the metric system as its official system of measurement". Only other countries not using metric system are Burma and Liberia and they are planning to adopt the metric system.

In response to Elizabeth from the Berkshires. I am from WA state, but did live/work on a farm in Sweden about 13 years ago (just a little before they joined the EU).1. Is it illegal in the UK to slaughter animals at home?I was in a rural area in "Northern" Sweden and I don't believe it was, but I think like here that in order to sell the meat it had to be butchered in an inspected facility. We drank raw milk from the farm next door too, but I think that was an "under-the-table" trade. 2. Is it illegal to hunt without a guide or game keeper?They usually went hunting in groups, but I don't think they had a gamekeeper 3. IS there public land for the general public to hunt?I know they had draws for moose and I am pretty sure some or most of the land was public/owned by the state. 4. Does your town, village, or country offer hunter safety and licenses?I am not sure who offered the classes, but they did have them 5. Is it hard to get a hunting rifle? The guy I knew who went moose hunting kept his rifle at a public location with a group of other hunters and they would go out as a "club" I don't know that everyone did this. There were a lot of open undeveloped forest areas. I was only half way "up" Sweden and that is parallel to Fairbanks Alaska. I had moose and bear served to me at least a couple of times. Handguns were not really owned by the general public. I will say as a nineteen year-old female(then)I felt safer walking in the dark in cities in Europe than I have in the US.6. If you have a rifle, can you use it to dispatch your own livestock?I believe so, but am not positive and it could have changed. 7. How much is a quid compared to a pound? Is that the same thing?They are on the euro now, but still used the Swedish kroner then. 8. What does "knackered" mean? Tired? Crappy?I found it amusing and confusing at times how "British" the english the Swedish people spoke sounded, but continually impressed that they all spoke it so fluently. 9. Are public gardens and allotments common? Yes, there was an apartment complex next to the farm I worked on with shared garden spaces for the occupants.10. Can you keep chickens? Yes, depending on where you lived.11. Is homegrown food common? More so than here. Most people who could grew at least a small garden. Where I worked they had a small farm shop and people would drive out from the city to buy enough potatoes to store all winter and they didn't want red or white potatoes they wanted specific varieties like "King Edward" which had pink spots. People also wanted to buy carrots with soil on them , because they new they would store better, unlike us with our "dirt phobia"12. Why does Britain use metric units in cooking? Sweden does too for the same reasons everyone else has listed.

You can kill your own chickens in your garden but anything bigger the red tape and rule makers step in, unless you plan to consume the entire animal yourself, not even a family member to have a lick....

2. Is it illegal to hunt without a guide or game keeper?

To deerstalk you need shooting rights for the bit of land you plan to stalk on. Some people buy a season ticket as such,some people have ongoing rights if they have a good relationship with the landowner and this generally involves sharing the carcass. My friend brought round 120 venison sausages this morning from a roe buck we shot a few months back. He knows the landowner very well and therefore isnt charged for the rights to shoot there, but sharing the carcass is par for the course.

3. IS there public land for the general public to hunt?

No, its all owned.There is nothing to stop someone going rabbiting on public ground I suppose but generally these places would be fairly busy and it may not go down well with the other people there depending when you did it! Something like rabbits you dont need shooting rights, just the permission from the farmer/landowner, they are normally more than happy to let you do it provided you are sensible and respectful of the land.

4. Does your town, village, or country offer hunter safety and licenses?

I dont know what you mean by hunter safety?You need to have a license to own a shotgun and a firearms certificate to own a rifle.I have a shot gun license and my own 12 bore shotgun. The crazy thing is there is no *training* as such in that I am legally allowed to stand in a field out the back here and shoot crows for example, and injure them/kill them badly but I could not stand out the back here and shoot clays because the land immediately here doesnt have the right clearance for clay shooting!!!!!!!Personally I find that odd? A clay doesnt mind if you dont kill it cleanly but an animal, quite a different case but there we go thats the crazy red tape for you. Guns for game shooting are incredibly common in the countryside, not so in the towns.The firearms officer that interviewed me trains inner city officers as now there are people who live in towns but want to go shooting at weekends say, the city police dont have alot of experiance with shotguns for game shooting so come out to the countryside to get more of an idea.You have to pay for the license too.

5. Is it hard to get a hunting rifle?

A fire arms certifcate is slightly harder to get than a shotgun, you also need to have a mentor who says they will take you out for a while on their shooting rights to check your aim etc.Shotgun? you have an interview with the firearms officer, they come to your house and you answer questions on gun safety and maintenace. You have to show where you plan to keep your gun and this has to be signed off. Checks are made on you to make sure you dont have a criminal record,even speeding tickets can put down an application so you need a clean nose.

6. If you have a rifle, can you use it to dispatch your own livestock?

Yes.

7. How much is a quid compared to a pound? Is that the same thing?

Yes

8. What does "knackered" mean? Tired? Crappy?

Both lol

9. Are public gardens and allotments common?

Yes, although there are not enough allotments to go round, Hugh FW in later programmes brought about a scheme called Landshare, there is a website, where people with land can link up with people wanting to grow, again usually in exchange for some of the produce.

10. Can you keep chickens?

Most places can yes although some have it in the deeds that no poultry are to be kept there, its now very common to see back garden hens.

For personal consumption, I think you can slaughter most things, not horses or cattle, though. The animal can't be subjected to any unnecessary pain, distress, excitement, etc., and I think at least bigger things, goats, pigs, sheep, have to be stunned first. Chickens you might not have to, just a quick snap of the neck might be okay. I haven't kept chickens recently, though, so I'm not sure. Defra or directgov would have the current laws, if you're really curious.

2. Is it illegal to hunt without a guide or game keeper?

I don't think so, so long as you have the proper licenses, and the land owner's permission.

3. IS there public land for the general public to hunt?

As previously said, not really. We have lots (and lots) of public rights of way across land, where you can walk, and perhaps cycle or ride a horse, depending on the type of right of way, though. In some places (including most of Scotland) you can roam freely ("right to roam"), although not, for obvious reasons, through fields of crops, too close to houses, in working quarries, etc.

4. Does your town, village, or country offer hunter safety and licenses?

No idea, I've never gone in for shooting.

5. Is it hard to get a hunting rifle?

No idea...

6. If you have a rifle, can you use it to dispatch your own livestock?

I think a 'free bullet' is a legal way of dispatching livestock in distress that needs to be killed immediately. Not sure about for other purposes.

7. How much is a quid compared to a pound? Is that the same thing?

The same, just slang. Along the same lines, a fiver is a five pound note (bill), a tenner a ten pound note.

8. What does "knackered" mean? Tired? Crappy?

Very tired, exhausted. Things can also be knackered, if they are getting worn out, clothes or tools or whatever.

9. Are public gardens and allotments common?

A "public garden" to me is a park or formal flower garden. Allotments are very common, but often oversubscribed - it can take a couple of years (more in big cities) to get one.

10. Can you keep chickens?

Yes, at least in most places. Cockerels can be a problem if it's not a rural area. Eggs can be sold at your gate, and that's very common to see. You often see veg sold the same way, and sometimes fruit and preserves.

11. Is homegrown food common?

Reasonably common at any rate, and getting more so. "Grow your own" is very popular at the moment, even if it's just a few pots on the balcony. There's also the "hedgerow harvest" - we usually put up jam courtesy of the hedgerows.

12. Why does Britain use metric units in cooking?

Well, actually it's somewhat of a mix. Temperatures are celsius, and I confess I find it much more logical to have water freeze at 0 and boil at 100 degrees. 32 and 212 (I think?) lack a certain something. Things are mostly sold by the gram/kilo, but milk definitely comes in pints (UK pints are not the same as American pints), as do beer and cider. Cookery books might use either ounces or grams - if a recipe is in both, I would use grams, but I'd never bother converting a recipe in ounces. Halving or tripling or whatever a recipe is easier in grams, and since I buy food in grams/kilos, my natural sense of quantities is in grams/kilos. Using mass, rather than volume, like most American cookery books, avoids the issue of how densely (or not) one packs one's flour, brown sugar, grated cheese, etc.

I have my nans old imperial scales and use those for somethings and some metric digital ones for others lol!It really throws me if I see a recipe from the USA and it calls for two cups of flour or a stick of butter lol, I mean how big is a stick..... :o)

GTM x x x

It wouldnt let me post it all together, too long a waffle lol!

I wish WISH everyone could come somewhere such as when I live and work and SEE a shoot for themselves. There has been so much rubbish written about shooting recently,its infuriating.Gamekeepers and landowners work ceaselessly to ensure the enviroment is well looked after.There was a terrific article in last Saturdays Telegraph saying they now know species diversity is greatest on land managed for shooting. Yet shooting here still gets a 'them and us' type tar brushing from some.Its sad, its a vital and vibrant part of rural life.GTM x x x

I have traveled all over the world and yes, the United States is the only country I've seen NOT on the metric system. As I'm the first generation to settle here in the US, here is what I remember about the UK:

Part of my family owns an working farm in England and are allowed to own a rifle.They do not hunt, except with organized clubs. Most people in that area do not process the meat they raise, but they allow the village butcher to do it. But they do raise their own meat and fowl.

On the other end of things, my grandmother, who still lives in the heart of the city in London, has a large "victory garden" in her side yard where she grows vegetables. She has an awesome tool shed, too, which was the family's bomb shelter in WWII (except it was buried underground at the time; they exhumed it in the 1960's and turned it into a garden shed). She and my grandfather made dandelion wine from dandelions plucked off the village green, and even in the city led a very self-sufficient lifestyle.

I'm an American living in The Netherlands and my answers are short and sweet..you can't do anything here without big brother breathing literally down your neck. If we owned a gun we would be visited weekly by the local police who knock on your door at all hours to check on your guns and where they are kept..however to even own one u need to fill out paperwork,attend theory classes,join a club,shoot a fake gun,then they think about letting you shoot a real one and then you need to join another gun club..it's exhausting and they take the fun out of everything.

Hunting is done but it's controled and only certain types of animals because we dont have everyting over here that they do in the U.S.

I have a container garden,I could have chickens and they have allotments aswell where people grow their own stuff and keep chickens. We have big farmers markets where local people sell their veggies,breads,pastries..all sorts of wonderful things. The fresh vegetables are by far better than anything I had in the U.S. The mass production of items doesn't exsist here. If you dont get to the store quick enough there is no bread or eggs to be bought. Everything is stocked once during the day and thats it. Also..there is no 24 hour shopping. They close at 6 and ealier on saturdays and no sunday shopping in about 95% of the stores..they open up certain grocery stores from 4-7 but there are still towns that refuse to do that.

As for slaughtering your own animals..thats a tough one here. The jewish and muslim community has been fighting for their right to continue the halal and kosher methods of slaughter. It was banned for a short amount of time and is now allowed again. I really dont know how it works for the regular people. I do know that in my class I have to take they have an entire section on why it's not ok to kill your sheep in the bathtub..so someone must of tried it at some point!

It's sooooo much different when you leave the U.S. and see what you can and cannot have and the whole freedom of it all is different too. Some of it's better and some of it isn't.

Here in NZ, you can go hunting or fishing without a guide. There's plenty of public access land for both. Our police are not armed, but anyone can apply for a firearms licence (you need one to be able to legally own/operate a gun in private). You can go buy yourself a hunting rifle at any local gun shop.

Hunting's quite popular down here, as is fishing in all its forms.

Home gardening is popular here, with a big revival in urban veg growing etc.

We're on the metric system here, as is the case in many other parts of the world - my question is why does the US cling to imperial measures? Makes for some fun n games in my line of work (with conversions etc). My own recipe book has older recipes from older relatives that are in imperial, prior to our change to decimal units. As I understand it, the US was very close to changing to the decimal system in the late 1970s/early 1980s, but it got vetoed after one of your presidential elections.

Argentina:It isn't illegal to slaughter for home use. People on farms do it all the time.It isn't illegal to hunt without a guide or game keeper. But usually on your own land or a friend's land. There are places to hunt on but mostly for organized hunts and they cost lots.Gun registration is national. You have to fill in forms, do some health check ups and pass the training and tests. It isn't hard. You just have to have proof of a regular job and time to do all the paperwork and training.Of course you can use the rifle to dispatch your own livestock for your own use.You can't generally keep chickens in cities. Maybe in smaller towns.Homegrown food is not at all common although the government is always trying to convince people to try it with their program "Pro-huerta".And thank goodness English people use the metric system. It makes reading and making recipes much simpler.Keep up the good work Jenna. It's a pleasure to read your blog.

Here in Newfoundland, there is plenty of public space to hunt. One has to get a gun license to have a gun. It's just a 2 day course with plenty of practical information. For large game ( moose/caribou) there is a yearly lotto but bear, coyote and small game there is only s nominal fee. No guide unless you are a non resident.

We use metric but I admit I use imperial for baking.

Lots of people in rural areas still grow a lot of their own veg plus berry picking etc.

Chickens are fine. No roosters in town though. Goats are starting to be a sticky point in some communities.

As for slaughtering your own animals at home but only allowed to serve to guests.... Same idea but with raw milk. You can't sell or gift raw/unpasteurized milk to anyone, but if you own cows you can drink it. Therefore the Canadian version of your epic hero, "folks this ain't normal" ;) did a "cow share". People bought into a cow, and because they "owned" (at least a part of) it, they could share in/drink of the raw milk. Brilliant.

3. IS there public land for the general public to hunt?Yes - there are animals in pakistan that do not exist anywhere else in the world. For example: Pakistani Ibex are like deer with huge goat horns...

4. Does your town, village, or country offer hunter safety and licenses?No - guns are easy to come by and there are no rules. AK-47s are especially easy to get, but they are not very accurate for hunting!

5. Is it hard to get a hunting rifle? see above

6. If you have a rifle, can you use it to dispatch your own livestock?

Yes

7. How much is a quid compared to a pound? Is that the same thing?Pakistan uses the Rupee

9. Are public gardens and allotments common?No

10. Can you keep chickens?Yes, there are really no rules and the ones that do exist are slippery at best.

11. Is homegrown food common? In the country-side, it is the only way people can eat. In cities there are markets in which the foos is literally trucked in on the buses that carry the people as well.12. Why does Britain use metric units in cooking? Pakisan uses metric

You can shoot rabbits if you have the rights or landowners permisson. In the UK hunt usually means hunting with dogs. Taking a gun is called shooting.

3. IS there public land for the general public to hunt?

No

4. Does your town, village, or country offer hunter safety and licenses?

The police and local council administer gun licences

5. Is it hard to get a hunting rifle?

Not hard but expensive and you must have the licence.

6. If you have a rifle, can you use it to dispatch your own livestock?

No. Allegedly.

7. How much is a quid compared to a pound? Is that the same thing?

Exactly. Like saying a coupla bucks. A coupla quid.

8. What does "knackered" mean? Tired? Crappy?

Exactly. See also rhyming slang version 'Cream Crackered'

9. Are public gardens and allotments common?

Yes, allotments are popular and often have long waiting lists. Community gardens are on the up.

10. Can you keep chickens?

Yes, but you can get into trouble for noise from the council if your neighbours complain. We don't have straightforward zoning like you do, so sometimes you get away with it in town, and sometimes some idiot complains in the countryside.

11. Is homegrown food common?

Not common enough.

12. Why does Britain use metric units in cooking?

Because we ill advisedly joined the EU and before we realised where we went wrong, they converted us over. WE figured it out before they got to converting us to the Euro though. So that was good. A good many of us still talk imperial. There a lot of anomalies, like we pay £1.39 (yes really) per litre for petrol (which you call gas) and then talk about how many miles our car will do to the gallon. I don't know a single person who knows how many Kilometres their car does to the litre. Oh and a UK gallon has 20 floz in it, and a US one, I think, has 16. So a UK quart is closer to a litre than a US quart. Like anyone cared.

In Australia:You can slaughter your own animals on your property but the meat must only be consumed on the property.

Guns laws are strict and there is quite a lengthy process to go through to get a firearms license and also to buy a gun as well. These were made more stringent after 1997 when we had a tragic event in Tasmania.

In recent years some forested land has been opened up to licensed hunters. But I think mostly people who wish to hunt for recreation have to find a land owner who will allow them.

Public gardens which I think we would probably call community gardens are becoming more common. Probably because of the popularity of more sustainable thinking and also because the size of city building housing blocks is getting smaller (no room for a veg patch).

Keeping chickens depends on local government. I think most local councils allow it and it is becoming more popular again.

I'm not sure how popular homegrown food is generally in Australia. I am in a rural area so it is more common here.

As for the metric system. I'm not sure why we have it but perhaps it is because it is the international scientific system of measurement.

Hi, I'm El and I live in the UK. I know nothing about hunting to be honest with you... but most people in the UK do not own a gun. Many people use both the metric and imperial system. There is a legal duty on local councils to make land available for allotments and growing veg if enough people request it - so there are allotments in most towns, although land is constantly under threat from other developments. Growing your own is very popular - either in your back garden or on an allotment and allotment waiting lists are huge!

My husband is from Germany and moved to the US about 16 yrs ago. He never hunted till he moved here. It costs 1000s of dollars to get a hunting license and there isnt public hunting land. He grew up in a small farm town, so you could have chickens and gardens. In fact, I wish I could have met his mother, she made sauerkaut, wine, and jam.

US reader here: As I understand it, the UK and the US were the last holdouts using Imperial. We were supposed to switch to metric at the same time but for some reason we decided not to at the last minute but the UK had already started and sort of got stuck partially switched.

I remember a big push to learn metric in grade school but it dropped off by the time I was in high school (late 90s). If you take any type of math/science course in university you WILL learn metric but also all of the conversions because most manufacturing is still done in Imperial...go figure. The only thing that stuck is the 2 L of pop/soda (that's another debate).

US reader here: As I understand it, the UK and the US were the last holdouts using Imperial. We were supposed to switch to metric at the same time but for some reason we decided not to at the last minute but the UK had already started and sort of got stuck partially switched.

I remember a big push to learn metric in grade school but it dropped off by the time I was in high school (late 90s). If you take any type of math/science course in university you WILL learn metric but also all of the conversions because most manufacturing is still done in Imperial...go figure. The only thing that stuck is the 2 L of pop/soda (that's another debate).

I've been reading through most of the comments to make sure that I don't repeat what has been already said, but I though I'd my two cents.

As a Canadian living in the UK, I think I can add a few things to the stream.

Canada has been officially metric since the early '70s, and Britain, it would seem since much more recently. In both countries, while metrics are officially used, many people still use imperial measures. Canadians still use pounds, inches and feet, but ounces and Fahrenheit have fallen out of favour. Though we use miles colloquially, we actually mean kilometres. The British still use stones to weigh people (one stone is 8lbs), and quarts and pints for liquids, but I think they are different from US quarts and pints. Speed limits in Canada are in kilometres, in miles in the UK. Wood is measured in inches in Canada (4x6...) but metric in the UK...

One of the reasons why the Brits use metric in cooking is because the metric system is standardised. Canadians use cups, but our cup size is metric-based, and therefore different from the American cup.

Hunting in both countries have specific seasons, are highly regulated, and require a permit. Riffle owners must have a permit. In Canada, permits are purchased from local authorities, though fishing permits are often sold at corner shops near a regulated lake or river.

In Canada, hunting is usually done on public land, and park rangers will inspect permits. In the UK, hunting is done on private land, therefore requiring the presence of a gameskeeper.

Slaughtering for personal use is allowed in Canada, and from what I have seen slaughtering for personal use is also allowed in the UK, but only for small animals.

Allotments are common in larger Canadian cities, and almost everywhere in the UK. UK public gardens are actually parks, and not actual gardens. Growing your own is increasingly more popular in Canada, but has been popularised since the world wars in the UK. One reason for the current popularity of homegrown food is because produce is sooooo expensive in the UK. So people with the know-how or interest, do try to grow some of their food. However, while the growing season is relatively long in the UK, the climate is pretty horrendous for many of the more popular foods, most notably tomatoes and Mediterranean herbs.

While organic gardening is all the rage in Canada, I find it much less prevalent in the UK: there are fewer organic options on garden centre shelves from what I have seen.

Chicken and bees can be kept anywhere in the UK, even in big cities, some smaller towns will even allow smaller livestock such as goats and pigs. In Canada, increasingly more cities are changing laws to allow for chickens and bees, but it is still an uphill battle in many places.

For Germany:1. Is it illegal to slaughter animals at home?Yes, unless you have a license that is fairly hard to come by (you need some training and you have to pass an exam). Some people do it anyway (for small animals like rabbits), but usually a certified butcher or vet is employed.

2. Is it illegal to hunt without a guide or game keeper?yes. In fact, the only people who are allowed to hunt are forest rangers.

3. IS there public land for the general public to hunt?No.

4. Does your town, village, or country offer hunter safety and licenses?No.

5. Is it hard to get a hunting rifle? You can get one, but not for hunting. Gun laws are strict in Germany.

6. If you have a rifle, can you use it to dispatch your own livestock?No.

7. How much is a quid compared to a pound? Is that the same thing?Germany uses the Euro.

9. Are public gardens and allotments common?There are a lot of Schrebergärten, garden allotments owned or rented by people where you can grow your own food even if you don't own a house with a garden. But public gardens are rare.

10. Can you keep chickens?Yes, although you may run into problems in the city, especially if you wish to keep a noisy rooster.

11. Is homegrown food common? It's getting more and more common. People grow food on their balcony, on their windowsill or in rented gardens. There is a huge trend of urban gardening right now.

Hello, I really have nothing to add anything regarding hunting and homesteading in Thailand but I do have some thoughts on metrics. http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1982672_1982673_1982667,00.html This is a common example used by professors when you don't label your units when showing work on your problems.

One of my favorite magazines is Country Living British Edition. It sounds like it could be suburban housewife-y but in my opinion it definitely is not, so much as it is a lovely celebration of a tiny country that still values the rural life and those who seek it.

It's a beautifully-photographed publication that provides a gorgeous, thoughtful, cheerful insight into all the sustainable and cottage industry and food revolution sorts of things that are happening in the UK.

I discovered it way back in 2004 when I was studying abroad in Oxford and felt too surrounded by pavement and academia and needed GREEN. I dove into the pages. And I've enjoyed following their homesteading/rural/local/food culture alongside ours in the States.

Anyway, it's worth a look if you're getting fascinated by what's happening agriculturally and environmentally with our supposed motherland across the sea.

In 1930 when my maternal grandparents immigrated to the US from Wales, our relatives were appalled that they would bring a child [my mother] to a country where there were cowboys and indians and everyone carried guns!!